Friday, July 29, 2011

Hello Auntie Lolo crafts readers! I'm Mary Kathryn from Mathews Family Happenings and I'm so delighted to be sharing a party post with you today! I blog about crafting, DIY projects, thrifting, my 3 kiddos and my crazy hubs. Today I'm sharing the Very Hungry Caterpillar party we had for my daughter's 1st birthday at the beginning of the month. Here's the deets:

Mary Martin's party theme was the Very Hungry Caterpillar and I had so much fun putting her table together! Here are some pics, followed by details of where the items came from and instructions﻿ for anything I made-

1. I love using paper lanterns as party decor because they're inexpensive but they pack a big punch. The large orange lanterns are from the dollar spot at Target and the smaller red and green ones are from Big Lots.

2. I showed you how I made those topiaries in THIS post, and since I attached the fleece with tape, I can always start from scratch with another color for another party.

3. Since the theme for this party was a BOOK, I went straight to the source and copied a couple of pages out of it to make the paper food garland.

Here's a closer look-

since the Caterpillar eats his way through a lot of FOOD in the book, I thought it'd be cute to have the food strung on the FOOD table.

Makes sense, no?

I grabbed my kiddos board book, found the food page, stuck it in the copy machine,

and got this-

and since I DON'T like to waste paper, I cut off the bottom half of the paper, stuck it on top of the book , hit copy again...

and got this-

I cut each of the food pieces out, leaving a small white border around each one-

and then punched out a hole on top of the hole that was already present in the picture-

Using a tiny punch, I created small holes on each piece at the top and strung them together on some thin twine.

LOVED how this came together and plan to use this same idea again for future parties.

I also could have gone much BIGGER with this and used the regular-sized version of this book, but for this particular party, the small garland was perfect.

I even added a bit to the hutch in the dining room-

back to the table...

4. The butterfly in the center is made from a super-think felt and cost about $2 at Michael's. I used fishing line to hang it from the light fixture above the table.

That super cute two-tiered stand was a gift from my mum and came form Target.

5. On the table, I tied one end of the garland to the topiaries and attached the other end (using a small piece of scotch tape) to the turquoise cupcake stands in the center. If you'll recall, those cupcake stands used to look like this-

(purchased on clearance from hob lob)

BUT, after a quick sanding and some spray paint, they looked 100% better.

6. For the table coverings, I used a 2-yard piece of thin linen in a light tan color (already had on hand), and layered a 1-yard piece of Very Hungry Caterpillar fabric I found on ebay (9.50 a yard). Since that's more than I usually spend on fabric, you can bet your sweet bippy I'll be looking for a cute project to use it in. LOVED how it looked on the table though.

7. I picked up that stuffed caterpillar at FAO Shwartz in NYC when the hubs and I were there on our anniversary 3 years ago.

8. The sillhouette of the child in the highchair is another from the cricut cartridge A Child's Year. Popped it into a frame I already had on hand from the hob lob.

9. The colorful boxes on the table covered with caterpillars, flys, and all sorts of cute bugs were purchased on clearance at the hob lob.

Here's a closer look-

Since I didn't use all of the paper food that I cut out on the garland, I scattered the rest of it around the table as a sort of 'food confetti'.

10. The Very Hungry Caterpillar plates and napkins were purchased at Target.

because as long as the 12-month old is semi-still for the picture taking,

it really doesn't matter what's in their hand.

I'm hoping that there were at least a few helpful tips in this post that can help you in the future. I've used the 'copy pages straight out of a book' method many, many times before to not only make garlands, but invitations and favors as well.

so.stinkin.simple.

until next time, friends!

Thank you so much Mary Kathryn! Can you believe how awesome that party was?! She has 2 more that she will be sharing in the next few months and I can't wait for you to see them as well. Make sure to go and visit her blog for more Mary Kathryn awesome-ness :) And she is doing a giveaway for fabulous chevron pillowcases.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

I have been a little off my game this week. For example, I almost posted Free Prints Wednesday yesterday. Yep, came very close! Thankfully I remembered to save them until today. Here are my fav's this week...

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Who says you can't do Christmas crafts in July?! :) I have had this idea for awhile and wanted to get it done early. The baby we are adopting is due in December and heaven knows I won't have time then!

1. Decide on an image to make out of buttons. I find mine online using google images. 2. Decide what size you want your image to be. 3. Print it out in that size. 4. Choose a frame bigger than the button art you are making. For example, if you want a 5x7 tree, get at least an 8x10 frame. I wanted an 8x10 tree, so I chose a 10x13 frame from WalMart and painted it white.

5. Take your frame apart and set aside the glass for another project (you never know when you might need it)6. Measure and cut your burlap to a few inches bigger than the cardboard backing that comes with the frame. 7. Use masking tape to secure the burlap tight to the cardboard backing.

8. Put your Christmas Tree image that you have printed and cut out on the burlap. I secure mine to the burlap with masking tape under the paper.

9. Trace around your tree using a fine tip pen. When I use darker burlap I use chalk which is much nicer in my opinion.

10. Now comes the fun part! Take your buttons and place them on the burlap. Keep in mind that while you will have to play around with the buttons to find which ones fit best where, it will not be perfect and that's okay! I decided to use some small red buttons to represent ornaments on mine.

*Note: No you aren't crazy, I did change the trunk of the Christmas Tree after this photo*

11. Once you have your buttons in place, you are going to super glue them down to the burlap. Yes I know this sounds crazy but it's the only method that has seemed to work for me. I use a VERY small amount of super glue on the back of the button, avoiding the holes where you will be threading the buttons. TIP: If you get super glue in the holes, it will be incredibly hard/impossible to get your needle through when you go to stitch them.

*It doesn't matter what brand of super glue you use, but make sure it has a fine tip. I have noticed that super glue in this type of container is easiest to control*

12. After you have super glued your buttons down, you are ready to stitch them on to the burlap. Simply un-tape your burlap from the cardboard backing and lift (it should come off very easily, if it doesn't, you used way too much super glue). I like to use 6 strands of cross stitching thread for my buttons. After I thread my needle, I tie one end off so that it catches in the back once I make my first stitch. 13. When you are done stitching, put the burlap back on the cardboard and re-tape it. 14. Put the cardboard (with burlap and button art attached) in your frame (just like you would for a photo) and you are ready to display!

Question I get the most? Where do you get your buttons?!

It took me awhile to find lots and lots of the same color buttons for a good price. There just aren't that many stores that carry bags of the same color buttons. Okay there is only ONE that I have found. Joann Fabric. They have bags of buttons for $2.29 I believe in lots of different colors and shapes. I found mine on a revolving stand in the sewing department. Wal-Mart has the same brand of buttons just not as much of a selection. And some Wal-Marts don't have any at all. The other place I have found buttons is on Etsy. Most of the prices are really good and shipping is cheap.

I hope this tutorial helps you to create your very own Button Christmas Tree!